Feds to delay F-35 decision until after next federal election

The government has delayed its current schedule to sign a contract for an initial delivery of Lockheed-Martin F-35 stealth fighter jets to Canada until after the 2015 federal election year, The Hill Times has learned.

Public Works Minister Diane Finley’s department is responsible for the National Fighter Procurement Secretariat. The secretariat told The Hill Times in an email: ‘We will take no decision on the replacement of our CF-18 fleet until our seven-point-plan [to review the F-35 acquisition], the F-35 Joint Program Office has amended the ‘buy profile’ by shifting Canada’s schedule by one year in order to support planning and the development of cost estimates. This moves the national date of first delivery from 2017 to 2018.’ The Hill Times photograph by Jake Wright